Shoe heel



April 30, 1940.

c. F. GlEssLl-:R 2,198,938

SHOE HEEL Filed April 8. 1938 18 'LJ' J. jl j H 17 17 fla@- l 11359 u 0 u '4A-1r l2 Patented Apr. 3o, 1940 f UNITED STATES* PATENT OFFICE vsnor: HEELk l Y Curtis F. Giessler, Bridgewater, Mass., assignor of one-half to Errol' M.

Mass.

1 Claim.'

j l -This invention relatesr to heels forboots and shoes, and more particularly jtoheels `madein part in leather.

Itis the general objectof'my invention to pro- .;vide anA improved part-leather heel of simple,

Figure 1 isa side elevation. of .avportion of ak shoe having a heel made infaccordance with'my 5f invention attached thereto; f

Fig. 2 is a perspectivev view of one end portion of a leather strip used in the manufacture of my improved heel and having one longitudinal edgek provided with spaced dove-tailed recesses;

Fig. 3 is a similar View of the end portion of anotherstrip, in which the dove-tailed recesses are in staggered relation to the recesses shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a complete heel;

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal, sectional -view of the heel on line 5-5 in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a transverse, sectional view on line 6-6 in Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is a plan view of a heel of modified construction;

Fig. 8 is a longitudinal, sectional view on line 8-8 in Fig. "I;

Fig. 9 is a partial, longitudinal, sectional view of the heel without a bottom lift; and

Fig. l0 is a side elevation of a heel showing a further modification.

Referring to the drawing, the heel of my invention, in its preferred form, comprises outer side tailed formation, and the recesses in the strips Il and` IB are staggered in relation to each other and the heel is built up with these two strips in alternate arrangement. The two stripsy I1 and Thompson, Brockton,

Application April 81938. seria1N0.2oo,s54 p (o1. sez- 34) I8 may be ycut from a. continuous strip, and the staggered arrangement of the recesses may be obtained by varying in the two4 strips the distances'- `betweenfthe end recesses andfthel ends of the' strips, as shown in Figures 2 and 3.l

VThe center portion vI9 is made from any suitable plastic material, but preferably comprises a mixture of ground or shredded leather scrap and a.. suitable binder which .is adapted to harden quickly when exposed yto air.

' The heel may be madey in any suitable manner,

but preferably strips II and I8 of proper length, arranged in alternatesuperposed relation, are

bent to the outline of a heel, preferably in a suit` able mold bytheap'plication of pressure, and the interior of the mold is thenlled with the lplastic compound whichmay be submitted to `pressure sufficient to force the compound fully into theI In suchla'm'achine, the pressure is exerted in allv directions and the heel is pressed into an integral solid body, with its top face 22 slightly cup-shaped to t the heel of the shoe.v

After the heelhas been compressed and the center I9 is rmly hardened, it may be subjected to any usual finishing operation, such as trimming, grinding or buing, and since the heel presents on its side and back edges the edge vgrain of sole leather, it will take a finish identical with a heel made entirely from full sole leather lifts. The only portion of the heel which does not present the edge grain of sole leather is the middle portion of the front edge or breast portion 24, which surface is not ordinarily exposed to lView.

.The heel may be provided on its bottom face either with a bottom lift 26 of sole leather fastened to the heel by any suitable means, such as nailing or c-ementing, or with a layer 21 (Fig. 10) of thin, split leather cemented thereto. Whenl the heel is provided with either of these, it presents the appearance of a heel made entirely of sole leather lifts. By making the heel slomewhat thinner, it may be adapted for having a rubber heel cemented or otherwise secured thereto'. If desired, a thin, split leather, layer 28 (Fig. 10) may be cemented to the top cup-shaped surface of the heel, and a layer of this character is well adapted for use when the heel is attached by cement to the shoe.

If it is desired to provide a sole leather finish in the breast portion of the heel also, I make use of the modified construction shown in Figures also in staggered relation in the alternate strips; In making this type of heel, the edge strips. 3.0,.

3| and 35 are all assembled and the center recess is lled with a suitable plastic composition, and. the heel completed in the same. mannery as hereinbefore described for the preferred form of heel.

This form of heel, like the preferred form, may.

be provided with a bottom lift 26` or with the top and bottom layers of split leather, as in thev case of the preferred form.

In Figure 1 is shown the heel portion 45 of a shoe having attached thereto a heel made in accordance with my invention. vThe heel is shown with a top layer of thin, split leather and with a bottom lift of sole leather, but both of these elements may be omitted, since the heel may be attached directly to the shoe Without the interposition of the thin top layer; and it may be used also without a bottom lift, because the composition is of sufficient hardness to have Wearing qualities superior to the wearing qualities of leather strips. c

One of the principal advantages of my heel is due to the presence of the doveetailed recesses in the inner edges of the superposed strips which make up the outer portions of the sides and back of the heel, because these recesses are filled with the plastic material constituting the center of the-heel in such manner as to operate as an effective lock for producing a solid, integral, heel structure practically in one piece, a structure which cannot disintegrate under conditions of use. This form of constructionsimplifies greatly the production of the heel commercially by uniting the leather strips vto the center portion of the heel, so that when they are removed from the mold, they retain their shape. It also tends to accelerate the speed of production.

- I have foundfrom experience that thesegheels can be made at an unusually low cost of production and, therefore, can fbe sold to the shoe manufacturer at alower price. In addition, due to the form of construction, the heel is substan- .tially Waterproof.

I have further found that heels made in accordance with my invention require little or no edge trimming. After they have been subjected to the pressure of a heel pressing machine, the edges Yare smooth and, in many cases, they come out.v with a more or less polished face. The ordinary form of heel made from full lifts requires trimming in every case, and sometimes,

trimming to an appreciable depth, which operation takes time and effort.. This operation is practicallyeliminated in the use of' heels made as hereinbefore described.

In the following claim, the words dove-tailed recess are to be understood to ,indicate any recess which is laterally enlarged toward the bottom of the recess.

Having thusdescribed my invention and the advantages thereof, I do not wish to be limited to the details hereinl disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claim.

What I claim is:

A shoe heel comprising side and back portions, and a 'center portion formed of plastic compound molded within said parts, said side and back portions being formed of continuous superposed Lstrips bent to the outline of a heel and having dove-tailed recesses in their inner edges to receive said plastic material, said molded center portion serving to connect oppositeside portions of said strips.`

CURTIS F. GIESSLER. 

